Blood Donations and Transfusions during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: Impact According to Autonomous Communities and Hospitals

Abstract

Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decline in blood donations, between 30% and 70% in some of the most affected countries. In Spain, during the initial eight weeks after the State of Emergency was decreed on 14 March 2020, in the weekly reports of the Health Ministry, an average decrease of 20% was observed between 11 and week 25 compared with the 2018 donation. We aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood donations and blood distribution in four autonomous communities, and to explore the evolution of the consumption of blood components (BCs) in ten hospitals of six autonomous communities. We performed a prospective study of grouped cohorts on the donation and distribution of blood in four regional transfusion centers in four autonomous communities in Spain, and a retrospective study of the consumption of blood components in ten hospitals in six autonomous communities. Regarding donations, there was no significant decrease in donations, with differences between autonomous communities, which started between 1 and 15 March 2020 (−11%). The increase in donations in phase II (from 26 May 2020) stands out. Regarding consumption, there was a significant reduction in the consumption of packed red blood cells (RBCs) (24.5%), plasma (45.3%), and platelets (25.3%) in the central period (16 March–10 May). The reduction in the consumption of RBCs was significant in the period from 1–15 March. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the donation and consumption of BCs.